ONE LITTLE FINGER – MAKING HISTORY MORE THAN 80 PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ACTING IN THE MOVIE

​

Over one billion people worldwide live with some form of disability, and the likelihood of experiencing disability at some stage in life pertains to everyone. Despite the large, global population dealing with disability, the surrounding stigma engrained in society detracts from the amazing ability of many individuals. One Little Finger challenges these norms, by ambitiously including over 80 persons with disabilities in the cast. These individuals represent a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities, autism, down syndrome, multiple sclerosis, dementia, and others. The primary goal of this movie is to bring awareness of this important human rights issue, while promoting inclusion and diversity.

One Little Finger is a narrative feature film (English) produced in the US and India, with a theme of “Ability in Disability”. The film is written and directed by Dr. Rupam Sarmah, and based on real-life stories. Raina, an American neurologist, uproots her life to research music therapy in India, and finds herself teaching children and adults with disabilities. By bringing them together through music and inspiring them to challenge themselves through their abilities, their lives are transformed.

​

“Using film media as a platform, we are allowing differently-abled people to act in this film alongside local and international award-winning actors to promote inclusion and diversity. More than 80 children and young adults with disabilities have acted in this movie,”

Rupam says, “The movie was filmed over the course of five years and across several locations in the US and India. Members of the cast and crew come from many different regions, namely Assam, Kolkata, South India, Mumbai, and the US. All characters with disabilities in the film are portrayed by disabled cast members.” Tamela D’Amico is a Hollywood actress and appears as a lead in the movie. Oscar-nominated composer and actress, Siedah Garrett, plays the role of Dr. Claudia. Abhinaya is a South Indian actress who is also hearing impaired, and her character has the same disability. Similarly, Den, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and rare genetic disorders, plays a character with conditions resembling his. Jeeja also plays a character with cerebral palsy, which she herself has. Some other noted actors include Jonathan Stoddard, Malaya Goswami, Jaya Seal Ghosh, Pabitra Rabha, Soumili Ghosh Biswas, and Kushal Chakravarty.

​

The music is directed by Rupam Sarmah, who has made music therapy an integral part of the film.

 

Many Grammy and Oscar winning artists were involved in the making of the soundtrack, including Quincy Jones, Julian Lennon, Siedah Garrett, Kechi Okwuchi, Kevin Mackie, and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.

​

The background score is composed by Stephen Melillo and Rupam Sarmah. The film is edited by Arghyakamal Mitra and Debojit Dutta. The Director of Photography is Asim Bose. Additional Cinematographer is Ayan Pratap. The soundtrack consists of songs from various languages (Assamese, English, Bengali, Hindi) and genres (e.g. rock, pop, classical, world-folk). These songs feature performances by world-class musicians like Quincy Jones, Siedah Garrett, Kechi Okwuchi, Grant Smith, Lonnie Park, Jann Klose, Ruth Weber Choir, Anweshaa, Padmashri Sumitra Guha, Rupam Sarmah, Subhamita, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, and others. The sound design is done by Anup Mukherjee and Rupam Sarmah.

​

The film has rapidly attained international recognition and praise. With over 27 laurels, One Little Finger has been officially selected at worldwide film festivals in Los Angeles, Florida, Italy, London, Spain, Delhi, and others. Awards received include Best Film for Inspiration, Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Music, Best Song, and the Human Rights Award at various ?film festivals, as well as three Telly Awards. The film is Internationally premiered in Marché de Film – Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2019 and is scheduled to release in Los Angeles on Aug 16, 2019 at the Santa Monica Film Centre.

The director says, “It was quite challenging to start with unknowns as we had many children and young adults with various disabilities. Many people believe that disabled people are burden on society and they avoid them because they do not know how to act around them. Never underestimate their abilities. It opened my eyes. Our Thoughts – Words – Actions matter a lot. We are all going to face the challenges with disabilities as we age or take turns in our life. In fact, we all know someone, maybe our loved ones in our family, with some disabilities who needs our love: could be our parents, friends, brothers, sisters, or children. So, treat them well with respect as a human being, and give them love and a helping hand.”

​

One Little Finger has several worldwide media partners, including PRERONA Spastics Society, Monovikas Kendra, UNESCO Center for Peace, #Nicks_Music_Promo™, UNESCO-USFUCA, IN THE MIRROR MUSIC, ABERRANT SOUND, The White Feather Foundation, LBR Music, Forest Nation, BrownOut Studios, Barn Castle, Salami Studios, maZumba Media, RJ International, Rakshak Foundation, Enable India and others.

 

One Little Finger is not just a film, It’s a movement to break the barriers of the stigma of the word disability. All it takes is a change in perspective, a change in our mindset! Disability is only what we perceive, ability is everything of what we believe!”

You can find out more about One Little Finger on the website http://www.onelittlefinger.com/